Top Rated Peanut Brittle Recipes

Here's a whimsical weekend project for dessert lovers. It doesn't require much in the way of special equipment — just an electric mixer and a candy thermometer. If you have a Silpat, that's helpful, too, but not absolutely necessary.

When we first opened the shop, we sold individually wrapped chunks of bacon peanut brittle made by our friend Lori Baker, who is coincidentally also a baker. She made the brittle at her house and brought it to the shop. It was called Bacon Peanut Brittle By Lori.
It was a perfect arrangement. We didn’t want to make them (lazy) and she has tons of talent. Sadly, when she opened her restaurant, she understandably didn’t have time to make us brittle anymore (sniff, sniff).
We were forced to make our version, and as it turns out, ours is pretty good, too. The key is to crisp the bacon really well. The other key is the bacon itself; it makes everything better. Collect all ingredients before you start cooking, and read the recipe all the way through, because things move quickly once you get going and you don’t want it to burn. The hardest part of making it is hiding it from Sean, because he usually eats half of it before it’s done.
Click here to see the Elvis (The Fat Years) Peanut Butter Ice Cream recipe.

This hunka-hunka frozen love came into existence when a sheet of our bacon peanut brittle came out a bit overdone. Instead of wasting the ruined brittle, we spun our new red-headed stepchild into submission by adding it to our banana base. Fat Elvis was born.
The flavor combination came easily enough; the name was another story. We made the ice cream work, but then got stuck, tossing around lots of monikers, including “The Elvis Presley” and “Choke on This, Elvis.” Nothing felt right, until Emily chimed in with “Elvis: The Fat Years.” Ding-ding-ding!
We dropped the first bucket of it in the dipping cabinet and announced its arrival on Twitter. Elvis diehards and meat ice-cream fans alike flooded the store. We ran out of an entire batch before we knew what happened. Elvis was in the building... to stay.
We recommend a half cup or so of brittle, but you can add as much as you handle. After all, your heart isn’t going to attack itself. The King wouldn’t have it any other way.
Fun Fact: The only flavor Jake hates more than banana is bacon.

Because when in doubt this Halloween, make a candy cocktail. Thanks to bartender Jim Reis at Santa Fe's Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi restaurant, this Reese's-inspired cocktail will be a hit long after the trick-or-treaters go home and the candy has been eaten.

Facts & Tips

What is Peanut Brittle ?

Peanut Brittle Shopping Tips

There are so many varieties of chocolate on the shelves today it can be overwhelming to pick one – as a general rule of thumb, the fewer the ingredients, the better the chocolate.

Peanut Brittle Cooking Tips

Think beyond cakes and pies – fruits like peaches, pineapple, and figs are excellent grilled – brush with melted butter or wine and sprinkle with sugar and spices for a dessert that you can feel good about.